the cruelest cut
by kubla2
Summary: if you read carefully, you'll find the cordano


Disclaimer::I do not own these characters they belong to the show ER  
  
Not even waiting for the orderly to wheel him away, Elizabeth hastily scrawled a note on his chart and left the room, as if in a rush to get to another patient. Once out there, in the glare of the fluorescent-lit hallway, she shook her head to knock his last words out. Taking off her surgical cap, she combed her fingers through some stray strands of hair as if to brush his murmured words away. As the orderly wheeled him past her, she saw Robert's face, pale against the pillow, eyelids closed but fluttering. She hoped that he would sleep awhile, gather strength for what he had to waken to, for what he had to face each morning. As tears welled up against her own half-closed eyelids, she bit her bottom lip, willing away the emotion that shook her each time she thought of him.  
  
She steadied herself against the wall of the hallway, trying to keep in her mind the last time she'd seen him, before. He had asked her to write on his arm, a message to the over-eager resident who might try to amputate the wrong limb: "Not this one, idiot." He had insisted on the "idiot." Classic. She had tried to laugh but could only muster the slightest, saddest smile. She'd been relieved that he was looking down at the pen and not up into her eyes.  
  
She let out a long breath as if she'd been holding it forever.  
  
"Elizabeth. Tough procedure?" Ed Dorsett breezed as he slammed some charts into the rack.  
  
"Fairly routine, really," She lied, "It's just been a long day."  
  
"I know all about those," he replied, adding, "Let me drive you home."  
  
"No, really. I'm, um, alright to take the el, it's just," and with that she floundered and blushed and gulped, turning away from him but not before he could see that her eyes were filled with tears. Suddenly his hand was on her shoulder, he was turning her towards him, wrapping her in his arms, pressing her against his chest, and repeating, "It's okay, everything's going to be okay."  
  
And she didn't resist. She pressed herself against him, letting her head rest against his strong shoulder and her tears slide down her nose and down his neck. "I'm taking you home," he said firmly. And in about half an hour they were at her door and she was letting them in.  
  
Kris had seen the lights of the car and had come to meet Elizabeth in the foyer. "Ella's sleeping. I'm off to class. See you in the morning, okay?" She sped out towards her own car and was gone before Elizabeth could answer. Dorsett laughed and asked "Did I scare her away?"  
  
Elizabeth shook her head, afraid that if she spoke she'd cry again, but realizing that she had to ask him to leave, she opened her mouth. Suddenly his mouth met hers, his tongue pushing through her lips, choking her objections. He pulled her towards him, and in her weakness she gave in to the embrace, allowing his hands to grope beneath her top, to claw at her bra, to grab at her breasts. As he pushed her into the kitchen, against the counter with one hand and reached to undo his belt with the other, Elizabeth tried to rip her mouth away, to catch her breath. But he barely let her. Holding the back of her head in one hand, he angled her face to meet his, moved his mouth close to her ear so that he could whisper, "I've never waited this long for anyone, Elizabeth."  
  
She closed her eyes, almost smiling at the thought of how he had earned his nickname. She had only known Fast Eddie for a few months after all.  
  
When it was over she was standing naked in the middle of her kitchen, gasping for breath, as he sagged in a chair, removing the condom gracelessly. He tied it up, dropped it on the floor and then looked over at her. "Come here," he encouraged, opening his arms for her, as if asking her to sit in his lap.  
  
Instead, she picked up her clothes -- scrub top, bra, underwear, pants -- and walked past him to throw them in a hamper and then through the door and out of the room, up the stairs and to her bed....  
  
"I love you," he murmured against her hair, against her temple, against her ear, tenderly taking the lobe between his lips, tracing its curve with his tongue, then with his soft, gentle mouth, following the line of her face to her chin. He leaned away a moment, to look at her, deep into her eyes for permission to kiss her. She smiled, moving her hands from his shoulders to his face, bringing their lips together, tasting him, melting into him, as he moaned her name, as incoherent epithets of love turned into sobs, and their tears mingled on his cheek. She moved away from him slightly only to look into his eyes again, then to move her lips to the corner of one eye and then the other, tasting his tears, easing his pain, sliding her cheek against his to whisper in his ear, "I love you, too, Robert. So much."  
  
She started awake. Heart pounding, pulse racing. Hot but strangely cold, then realizing she was naked, then knowing that she was not alone. "Oh God," she mouthed as she saw his face, turned toward her in sleep, mouth open, drooling slightly. "Oh God. Dorsett. Oh no." And the tears that she wasn't sure had ever stopped all night started to fall again, hotter and faster, as she jumped from the bed. 


End file.
